U.S. Shows Some Love for Solar

Hey, this green thing’s catching on! Not that anyone reading this likely needed convincing that solar power’s a good thing, but a new survey shows that a lot of other people now think similarly. According to the SCHOTT Solar Barometer report a whopping 98% of Independents, 97% of Democrats and 91% of Republicans think that developing solar power is in the vital interests of the United States. On the flip side of this, only 3% of people surveyed thought that favoring coal was a good direction for the country to head. Additionally, a near-equal amount of Democrats (72%), Republicans (72%) and Independents (74%) thought that extending federal tax credits were a good way to encourage further development of solar. Granted this is a survey conducted by two groups with an overt economic stake in the results, but the figures are certainly compelling.

According to the Solar Energy Industries Association the US has a potential capacity of 7,000 GW in the Southwest alone. In 2007 US solar installations grew at a rate of 45%, making the US the fourth largest market in the world behind Germany, Japan and Spain.

You can take a look at the questions asked in the survey and summaries of the responses on the SEIA website.

Hey, this green thing’s catching on! Not that anyone reading this likely needed convincing that solar power’s a good thing, but a new survey shows that a lot of other people now think similarly. According to the SCHOTT